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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Finally found the time to watch the korean drama everyone was raving about. Rooftop Prince was one of the popular drama in 2012 that went viral because of it's interesting plot with a handful of slapstick humor. Here's the summary if you haven't watch it and are curious to know what is it about.

Synopsis:
When Crown Prince Lee Gak is transported 300 years into the future to present day Seoul along with his three retainers, they believe that it is their duty to solve the murder case of the Crown Princess in order to return to Joseon.

They land in the rooftop apartment of Park Ha, a cheerful woman in her mid-20s, who eventually believes the odd quartet's predicament and becomes their guardian. As Park Ha educates the four on life in the 21st century, Lee Gak comes across Hong Se Na, who seems to be the reincarnation of his wife. Taking on the identity of Yong Tae Yong, Lee Gak slowly begins to unravel the murder of Yong Tae Yong and in turn moves closer to solving the murder case of the Crown Princess.

As he finds himself in love with Park Ha, he figures that maybe the Crown Princess was not so perfect after all...

This is a comedy romance drama with many comical moments but do expect the existence of villains that can constantly get on your nerves. It seems like villains are important elements in every drama. They spice up the drama, keeping viewers till the last episode just to see what kind of punishment they will get.

Honestly, I find this drama a little draggy at the beginning. Well, it was okay for the first few episodes but it started to get draggy in the following episodes with numerous flashbacks here and there. There are too many flashbacks in this drama. I'm sorry but I don't like dramas that have a lot of flashbacks because I think drama flashbacks are only meant for the last episode. I even once stopped myself at episode 11 and wonder if I should continue watching this drama because you know, the story isn't really getting anywhere. All you'll see for the first 10 episodes is how the prince and his three retainers adapt to the new world, how horrible Se Na and Tae Moo is, and the lovey dovey relationship between the prince and Park Ha.

The only thing that kept me watching was because of Park Yoo Chun's acting skills. Or should I say.....I like his character. Hoho~

Thank god, the writer finally decides to get the ball rolling faster and the story soon accelerates from episode 14 onwards.

Things start to get interesting when Prince Lee Gak discovers the pieces of truth and evidence and figures out the reason behind himself being transported into the future. Solving the Crown Princess' murder case isn't his only mission. He must also find out the reason behind his reincarnated self, Yong Tae Yong's disappearance, and the death of Yong Tae Yong's grandmother. Ah, yes.....he finally found out the main reason for his arrival to the present day of Seoul, that is to meet Park Ha.

Again, the drama slows down towards the ending. Again, flashbacks and flashbacks. It's like a 12 episode drama made into a 20 episode length drama.

Everything in this drama is rather predictable and has little suspense. You know what's going to happen even before it's revealed. You know what the villains are up to. We, the viewers, know almost everything about the truth. The only one who doesn't know a thing is Prince Lee Gak.

The ending?

[spoiler alert]
Like I said, it's kind of predictable. By the time you've reached episode 18, you can already guess who is the one who got drowned in the Joseon murder case and everything that happened back in Joseon. All these are based on the simple theory shown by the drama. If Hwa Yong and Bu Yong were sisters in Joseon, then like their past life, Se Na and Park Ha are sisters too in their present life. There's a similar connection between the past and the present so it's easy to deduce what happened in the present could have happened in the past. So in the end, the Joseon people vanished and gone back to where they were from at the first place. Everyone lived their lives as before, except for Prince Lee Gak who had to live his life all alone, grieving for his love. As for Park Ha, she gets to meet Tae Yong. But does she sees Tae Yong as Tae Yong, or the prince she loved?

It's a decent ending although it doesn't give me the "OMG.... that ending!" kind of feeling.

Anyway, this drama lives up to what it claims as a comedy romance drama. Lots of romance, lots of funny scenes. No tears, no worries. Good to watch for a boost of endorphin. (All thanks to the three comical retainers!)